The Girl with No Name
by Phantom's Fallen Angel
Summary: The slave girl's last day(s), after she has refused Erik and before she is executed by the khanum. It's meant to explain what the book skips over. Kinda sad... Based on SK, obviously. Please read and review! One-shot!


The Girl With No Name

Disclaimer: I do not own Phantom of the Opera. We all know who own Phantom of the Opera. Not me. Na-uh!

A/N: So, another Persia-odalisque-Erik one-shot. This one is different from Ayesha, though, a lot! It's basically the girl's last day(s). Her feelings were, of course, skipped in the book as Nadir tells that part of the story, and how would he know what she feels like? So this is my idea of how she must have felt. REVIEW and let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

The girl stared down at her henna-decorated hands, barely visible in the dim light.

She shifted on the hard floor, her knees still aching from kneeling in front of the khanum this morning.

The Shah's mother had heard her stammered apology with a cruel smirk, then she had ordered the little odalisque to be taken to this small, damp room. A couple of stale smelling carpets were stored in a corner, rolled carefully and the girl was ordered sharply not to touch anything after the eunuchs had shoved her inside.

She had spent the first few hours shouting at passers-by to please let her out. Then she had shouted herself hoarse and collapsed onto the ground. She hadn't moved since. Panic was eating away at her.

She should have behaved differently, she should have kept control.

Tears were leaking out under her tightly shut eyelids as she recalled what had transpired in the magician's chambers.

OooOooO

_"You would rather die than lay with me?" The disbelief had taken the hoarseness out of his voice and she could hear its beauty. But the calming and, yes, arousing effect it had on her was shattered by the thought of the mask and the thing under it. _

_She had heard the other women talking about his face; she had heard them say that it was the most ugly and horrifying thing Allah had ever created. How was she supposed to love him? _

_Her hands shook and as he repeated his question, she broke down into tears, sobs shaking her. _

_The girl was aware that her behaviour was disgraceful and she expected to be punish__ed__ immediately, but the magician only sighed. _

_"Take her away," he ordered quietly, "say what you wish, just make sure she doesn't get hurt!" _

_The daroga of Mazenderan, whom the Shah had appointed as the magician's bodyguard cast a horrified glance at her and then at the masked man. He stepped closer, and the girl could smell both his scent of spice and pipe smoke and the magician's as he leaned in, a blend of herbs __and __sandalwood. _

_They exchanged words, which she didn't pay attention to. _

_She was shaking all over, her hands trembling and tears streaming down her face, messing up the make-up which had taken several hours to complete. _

_What could she do? Should she try and touch the man? Would she be able to stand _his_ touch or would it repulse her too much to feign affection over it? _

_She was jolted from her thoughts as suddenly the eunuchs were dragging her out of the room. _

_She heard shouts come from inside, but her guards didn't stop. They led her back to the harem, and for a brief moment, the young slave allowed herself the fantasy of simply going back to her old life… _

OooOooO

The khanum's eyes had been so cruel, she still shivered when she thought of how she had stared down at her.

"Foolish girl!"

Those had been her only words before ordering her to be taken away. Now what would she say?

The girl looked up as the door to her cell was opened. A guard motioned for her to come out. She obeyed, remaining silent and keeping her gaze on the floor.

She was led back to the khanum's chambers. Biting down onto her bottom lip, she tried to imagine what her punishment would be.

She wouldn't likely be disfigured, she knew the khanum would have no further use for her then. Lashes? Probably. Onto the sole of her feet, most likely. That was painful and would serve as a dire reminder of her misdeeds for days to come, as she would have to walk around on bleeding feet and perform her duties to perfection at the same time.

Still, a beating would be bearable.

The small flame of hope was extinguished almost immediately as she saw the khanum wait for her, her eyes behind the gauze veil cold as chips of black ice. The odalisque fell to her knees and felt panic well up inside of her as the Shah's mother spoke.

"Poor girl. Poor foolish girl!" she purred, her voice like the caress of death. "I have thought of such a special thing for you… such a wonderful punishment." Her smile vanished and she sounded very angry as she went on, "Many a woman would have paid to be in the position you were offered, undeserving one. I would have!"

She felt an icy shock in her body, a numbness that, unfortunately, only affected her limbs. Her mind reeled. What would happen to her? Was there any hope? She wouldn't be killed, surely not. Not for such an understandable mistake. Who wasn't afraid of the magician? Right at that moment, however, as the strong sweaty hands of two men grasped her upper arms and she was being dragged away, she would have really preferred to be in the magician's embrace.

The corridors she walked down with her guards were so familiar to her, yet her mind refused to make the connection. Where were they taking her?

They passed the magician and a servant as he was directed to the khanum's chamber. Would he still take her? Would she be given a second chance? To him, she was only the girl with no name, who had offended him, and yet, he hadn't punished her himself. Would he want her back?

She shrieked as a hand covered her eyes and received a sharp slap on the mouth for it. Then she was pushed into a small room and the hand lifted from her eyes. Her vision cleared… and she screamed.

She was inside the torture chamber, the hellish contraption the magician had created for her cruel mistress!

The odalisque had heard enough about this place to make her wish she were dead already. She screamed and screamed until her throat was sore and she had to stop.

Voices. There were voices outside.

The khanum, pleased with her little display, said something along the lines of the magician… _Erik_… ought to be pleased with her choice of object. There was a brief silence.

Then the magician's voice. He sounded angry, so angry and cold it made the slave girl shiver.

He didn't want her to die! Perhaps there was still hope. She struggled to her feet and tried to find a focal point in the mirror chamber, something to cling to whilst listening for the sound of the door.

The sound that came, however, was different. The magician, Erik, was leaving. There would be no help, no sudden magic, nothing. He wouldn't save her, he couldn't.

An icy hand gripped the girl's heart.

"NOOOOOOO," she wailed. And then the light went on. And the heat. And, after awhile, the pain.

_A/N: This was sort of sad, wasn't it? I know I didn't quote the book exactely, but it's only the girl remembering and she wouldn't have memorized the conversation. What she recalls is like a summary of what they said. Ok, so REVIEW, please! _


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